Fuel Your Fandom

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Video game development is a famously arduous process. That's largely thanks to competing factors like time, budgets, and technological limitations. Still, video games are a multi-billion dollar business. So developers throughout the history of digital entertainment have had to find ways to work around obstacles that might otherwise impede their progress. And man, have they ever come up with interesting workarounds. In this episode, Saint and Jim look at some of the surprising ways he creators of games have discovered to get over their stumbling blocks in order to create experiences you'll treasure — in hopes that you won't notice the palette-swaps, pop-in, and NPCs wearing whole-ass trains as a hat. Plus: bonus rambling about revisionist literature edits, more "Velma" grief, and why the "Dilbert" dude is such a waste of space.

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Let it never be said that we don't suffer for our art. This week, Saint and Jim take on a pretty unexpected subject: Kidz Bop. And not just Kidz Bop, but Kidz Bop bops that REALLY shouldn't exist. From laughable lyric changes, to subject matter that had to be so sanitized that it bears almost no resemblance to the original, to how useless it all ultimately is psychologically...your hosts try to look at every perplexing corner of these most inessential of pop-music cover versions. I mean, did we as a society really NEED a cherubic chorus of chirpy tweens offering us their squeaky-clean spin on "Lips of an Angel", "Thrift Shop" and "So What"? Well, no. But they exist. So we had to break them down. And since this one was such a nightmare to edit (due to both subject matter and the sheer number of clips necessary), we'd REALLY love you if you gave it a listen.

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By now, it's hardly news that James Gunn and Peter Safran have been handed the reins of the newly rebranded, soon-to-be-unified DCU (which the powers-that-be are dropping the "E" from now in order to emphasize the continuity). That said, the news of the slate of projects they're focusing on first just dropped, and it's...interesting? On this edition of the Fuel Your Fandom podcast, Saint and Jim take a look at the announced plan for DC's on-screen direction, and engage in a whole lot of nerdy speculation as to what it could all mean for superhero media.

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Hey, guys. Did you miss us? We sure as hell missed you. Saint and Jim return to the Fuel Your Fandom podcast for our Season 5 opener, and boy HOWDY did a lot of crazy stuff happen over our holiday hiatus. As such, we don't really have a theme for this installment other than playing catch-up on all the news that's fit to nerd. So if you feel like joining us for a lively bounce-around touching on video games, streaming stuff, movie happenings, superhero goings-on and the latest in sparkling consequences, then let's kick off our fifth run of shows with a bang — together.

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Hey, Friends of Fandom. Saint and Jim don't really have a topic this week. They just wanted to spend a little time just before their holiday hiatus to reflect on a great year of guests, geekery, good times, and — most of all — gratitude. So that's what they did! Thanks to everyone who was a part of Fuel Your Fandom in 2022. We appreciate you all. And here's to Season 5 to come!

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The Man. The Myth. The weirdest legend of them all. How has it taken Saint and Jim this long to get around to the national treasure that is Weird Al? Not only is he universally beloved and an undeniable creative genius, he’s also a peerless parodist, funny filmmaker, virtuoso squeezeboxer, and all around nice guy. On this episode, your intrepid co-hosts are joined by Al superfan Josh Bohmbach of The Benchwarmers Sports Trivia podcast. What results is less a “podcast” per se, and more just three nerds gushing endlessly about a legitimate icon. Couldn’t be helped. He’s just so awesome. So earhole it up, and let’s get weird.

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Something curious has been happening in the land of live music lately. Cover bands and tribute acts have ascended to a level of draw (and ticket sales) previously only reserved for their "original" counterparts. Whether a given band is emulating a single celebrated act or representing a specific genre's greatest hits, the public's appetite for familiarity has never seemed higher. Is it nostalgia? Post-covid "comfort food"-style tendencies? Or something else? Today, Saint and Jim are joined by Kevin Sucher, Grammy-nominated producer and bandleader of America's favorite Yacht Rock band The Docksiders, to break this one down.

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Few characters have captured the imaginations of escape-seekers like the ultimate gentleman spy. Y'know, 007. Bond. James Bond. The "license to kill" guy. In this episode, Saint and Jim are joined once again by friend of the show and host of the "Mission Log" Star Trek podcast, John Champion. In a Blofeld-worthy twist, he's actually not here to talk Trek this time. But he IS good enough to help us dive into some Bond-centered subjects that might leave you shaken AND stirred. Among them: how do we parse the misogyny of Bond's earliest outings with modern standards? Who was the best Bond? Is there a future for the character after "No Time to Die"? How much of a difference is there between Fleming vs. Broccoli? And how good is all that music, anyway?

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First things first: MASSIVE SPOILER WARNING FOR THIS EPISODE. If you somehow haven't seen "Wakanda Forever" yet, then please save this one for later. Reason being, Saint n' Jim both saw it the weekend it opened, and were so moved by it that the usual months-out spoiler moratoriums are out the window. But if you HAVE seen it, then we hope you enjoy the breakdown of all the reasons why this film is one of the best the MCU has produced thus far. Among them: rich depictions of culture, incredible action, powerful Afro-futurism, touching tributes, inspiring depictions of Black excellence, and SO many implications for the MCU as a whole it'll make your head spin. Earhole it up!

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There's no denying it: technology is an integral part of all of our lives. We all have smartphones in our pockets. We'd get lost without GPS. And most of us don't really remember much before the internet. But our reliance on tech isn't necessarily a net positive. As we've seen given some of the news stories that have recently surfaced involving Facebook, Twitter, layoffs, and other "we'd rather not think about it" kind of stuff, sometimes tech can be more trouble than it's worth. In this edition, Saint and Jim take a look at our over-reliance on tech, and what it means for the culture.